Mali's interim govt sets date for general election next year

Mali will hold presidential and parliamentary elections in February next year, the country’s interim government announced on Thursday.

Lieutenant Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, the minister of territorial administration, told journalists in Bamako that the first round of voting will take place on February 27 with a second round of vote in March.

The announcement of the dates according to the government is a sign of its commitment to “strictly uphold” a pledge of an 18-month transition for returning to an elected civilian government.

An electoral plan presented by the transitional authorities also showed that a referendum will be held on Oct. 31 of this year and council elections on Dec. 26.

Mali was plunged into a political chaos after the ouster of Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta in a military coup last year August.

The coup worsened an already fragile situation in the West African country which has been plagued by violence since 2012 when Islamist militants took over a Tuareg separatist rebellion in the north.